Sea Forest Waterway again dished out windy conditions and temperatures hovering near 30C on Thursday morning.

After clinching their Wednesday semi-final in a world best time, Kiwis Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler again dazzled, overcoming a slow start and closing a nine-metre margin to take the lead shortly after the midway point to win in six minutes 50.19 seconds, with Russia and Canada taking silver and bronze, respectively.

Prendergast and Gowler, who won the world championship in 2019 and were favoured to grab victory in Tokyo, set a world best time of 6:47.41 just 24 hours before the final.

They are just the third non-European team to win the Olympic event and the first since 1996.

Ireland also celebrated their first gold of the Games, winning the men's lightweight double sculls ahead of Germany and Italy in a tightly-fought race.

The Irish pair of Fintan McCarthy and Paul O'Donovan crossed the line in a time of 6:06.43.

Croatia's mighty Sinkovic brothers came out on top in the men's pair, winners by 1.29 seconds ahead of Romania and Denmark.

Martin and Valent Sinkovic, who won gold in the double sculls in Rio and were pairs world champions in 2018 and 2019, pulled away from the field almost immediately to win in 6:15.29.

Thursday's medal races ended in dramatic fashion as Italy pulled off a stunning victory in the final moments of the women's lightweight double sculls ahead of France and the Netherlands.

The Italian pair of Valentina Rodini and Federica Cesarini sat in third throughout most of the race, before a burst in the final metres saw them cross the line just 0.14 seconds ahead the French.

Australian Associated Press